adopted a turkey...

[dgcsmom]

Hi, I just had a friend recommend this forum to me, so I'm new here.

My name is Chris Johnson, and I live in northern Utah.

Earlier this spring, we had a wild tom turkey show up and start hanging out at our house. He has apparently adopted us, because he's still here, several months later. (Okay, that might have something to do with the fact that we give him a little scoop of wheat every morning...) I admit I've gotten rather attached to him. But lately he's not looking so good, and since I know nothing about poultry, I thought I'd check here to see if it's something to worry about.

When he first showed up, his plumage was full and he puffed up all the time, spreading his tail and strutting around. He also gobbled a lot. Now he very rarely gobbles, and he must have gone through a molt, because we have found his feathers everywhere. He looks rather thin and spindly, which I'm sure is at least partly to do with the molt. So I guess I'm just wondering if all this is normal? I realize that it's not mating season anymore, so he's not going to get all puffed up and fancy, but is it normal for turkeys to molt and stop gobbling? Should we be doing something for him? And if so, what?

Thanks for any help you can give me!

Chris

 

[ChurkLover]

I have three turkeys, one Tom and two hens. I was told molting takes place now thru the fall and have noticed a lot of his feathers laying around as well. He is still puffing up and gobbling a bit but I imagine each turkey is a little different.

I found this on the internet for you:

“Turkeys gobble all year, but the gobbling seems to peak during the spring,” Godwin said. “You can make a turkey gobble in the middle of the summer or the winter, but turkey gobbles peak in the spring. Our research indicates that the length of the day, the turkeys’ hormones and the weather conditions greatly influence when turkeys gobble.

“Clear days with high barometric pressure tend to be better gobbling days than overcast days with low barometric pressure. Windy days tend to be poor gobbling days. A contributing factor too may be that hunters can’t hear as well on windy days as on days without wind.

“A sudden change in weather conditions also reduces gobbling activity. If turkeys are with hens, they don’t gobble as much.

Also, I found the thread below you may want to check out. Good luck!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=55117

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

extra protein helps during molt but it isn't required. He will be back to his old self wheh he's done.

Steve

 

[Turkeyrangler]

my domestic eastern wild tom in molting right now, actually it peaked last week. He looks pretty shabby right now, but his new feathers are coming in well. I think he will be fine.